Juventus have a plea bargain accepted with the FIGC prosecutor and an agreement was reached over their false accounting case.
The Turin giants have to pay a hefty fine of $770230 to the Italian Football Federation and will be granted access to European competition for next season should they qualify via one of the available slots in Serie A. Juventus will not be handed any more points deduction after the most recent 10-point deduction slipped them to seventh on the league table.
The club has been under investigation since last year for salary maneuvers, false accounting, false financial statements and market manipulation leading to capital gain violations. Earlier this year, Juventus were handed a 15-point deduction which was overturned later.
Plea accepted
The plea bargain was agreed by the club with FIGC and it was accepted at their second trial in the case on Tuesday morning. FIGC president Gabriel Gravina said the ruling was ‘the best result’ for Serie A football and was made ‘to find a moment of serenity by respecting the rules’. The club statement also confirms the plea bargain accepted.
Juve will pay €718,240 euros. NO PENALTY POINTS pic.twitter.com/Dy0Z4fqJxj
While Juventus accepted the charges brought by the federal court, their ex-president Andre Agnelli has not accepted his after he and several other board members received bans from football activities. Before that, they all stepped down from the role in November last year. As a case, Agnelli will stand trial on 15th June 2023.
What next for Juventus?
With no more point deduction to worry about, Juventus can refocus matters on the pitch having also got the clearance to play European football next season. The ruling came on the day the Bianconeri suffered a 4-1 loss away at Empoli and then a 1-0 defeat to Milan last weekend ruled them out of Champions League football.
However, Max Allegri’s side is still in the hunt for Europe with a possibility to play in the Europa League. Although they hold a Conference League spot at the moment due to their seventh position on the table. They need to win and hope other results go their way in the final round of games in the Serie A 2022/23 season.
Juventus are separated just by a point from sixth-placed Roma, who are also in the Europa League final, as they travel to Udinese. The Giallorossi are home to Spezia on the final day and a win will do for them to qualify for the competition again. A draw will be enough if Juve loses their fixture.
However, Jose Mourinho could give their rivals a huge favor by winning the Europa League which will promote them to the Champions League and empty a slot in the group stages of the former. By that route, Juventus will gain the spot in Europe’s second division instead of the Conference League irrespective of their result at Udine.
